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Looking for high quality control arms

Yes, everything was finger tight on jack stands and torqued sitting on all 4 tires. I have even broke them loose and retorqued. Which was after a 200 mile day trip which I discovered the DW on.
 
nrwphoto said:
At this point pretty much everything on my Jeeps front end is new or replaced in the last couple years. Everything is tight and/or torqued properly with no movement to be found anywhere. And I have had it checked out by a local mechanic I have been taking the Jeep to for the P.I.T.A. repairs for several years. He did a laser wheel alignment and thought it all looked good.

So after inspecting, road testing and plenty of thinking it is that over designed oval bushing at the rear of the control arm. The sleeve for the mounting bolt goes through what I refer to as a web in the bushing. Solid rubber on the top and bottom, but those crescent cut outs in front and behind the sleeve. This design worked fine on my Jeep at factory ride height. But at the angle it currently sits because of the lift it is causing the axle to move back and forth on bumps.

My DW happens when I hit a bump on only one side or if I go over a poorly lined up expansion joint that is at an angle, going onto or off the local bridges. Basically one side hits the joint first. In either case those crescent cut outs in the oval bushings are allowing my axle to move backwards a little and then rebounding. If it hits the right harmonic then DW ensues.

Another factor in narrowing this down is that I have found virtually no one that has had DW appear immediately after installing the OME lift on an XJ. However I have found a half dozen or so people who have had DW appear on their WJ right after a similar OME install. 1 of the few items my XJ and a stock WJ have in common are those LCAs.

So the theory is that at factory angles the oval bushing and suspension works fine dampening road noise and vibration. When you hit a bump the suspension moves up absorbing the impact. However get that LCA at just the wrong angle as you are going down the road and some of the impact when you hit a bump is transmitted rearward instead of up and (again those over engineered cut outs on the oval bushings) allows the axle to move rearward just that fraction of an inch which then amplifies into the dreaded DW.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Interesting.
Be sure and post results with the new arms!
I'm running WJ arms on mine at stock height and will be curious to see what I can expect or what to look out for when I lift it.
 
I have run JKS lower CAs for many years and miles. They still are tight and the bushings are in good shape, unlike the junk RE Super-Ride LCAs they replaced.

The RE Super-Flex uppers are OK but do require tightening annually and frequent lubing. Wish I had spent the extra money for the JKS uppers.
Both sets of CAs provide enough clearance for the 33"s @ 4" of lift., w/ 10" of travel.
 
SleeperXJ said:
I have the same setup. The control arms are beef, and well designed.
They allow quite a bit of length adjustment. Grease ports are a nice feature too.
And made in the USA :us:
Click to expand...

I am also running the OME 3.5" with JKS adjustable upper and lowers. Love the way it rides. Well worth it.
 
nrwphoto said:
Do those JKS arms clear the shock mount braket alright at full droop?
Click to expand...

Mine don't. The shocks limit droop and the steering binds up before they hit.
 
iluv83vettes thanks, good to know. I found after wheeling a couple times that my WJ LCAs were limiting my travel. So I cut a notch in the top of them and welded them back up. Worked well until the DW appeared with the lift. A bit paranoid about them hitting again since I have seen some photos of after market arms hitting those mounts.
 
If I were to spend money on stock-ish (basically non-mid/long arms) I would go with Tnt or clayton.
 
After having installed several short arm lifts, changed many springs, and spent countless hours dialing in pinion angles, there is only one set of arms I will recommend.

Savvy OffRoad.

The double adjustable uppers make dialing pinion angle and setting caster much less of a headache.


Do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on your suspension.


When was the last time you changed the upper control arm bushings at the axle? They are pretty worthless and can develop slop easily
 
yossarian19 said:
Hmm. Interesting.
Be sure and post results with the new arms!
I'm running WJ arms on mine at stock height and will be curious to see what I can expect or what to look out for when I lift it.
Click to expand...

I ended up going with Rokmen arms, replaced all 4 this weekend. I did find during the swap that the frame end bushing on the driver side UCA was collapsed in, had a spider web crack in it and the sleeve was at a bit of an angle. But the rubber otherwise seemed in good condition. I am thinking just a defect or improper install. Also the pass side UCA axle side bolt was tore up pretty good. It had 2 grooves 1/16 deep all the way around it. I know this was from improper install by the mechanic I took it to, since I had taken it back a couple of weeks after the front end was rebuilt do to issues on that side.

Otherwise the install went smooth. Everything lined up well, my wheel alignment measures out great and after a test drive and now 1 round trip compute to work all seems tight and well controlled. I am happy with the end result. Thanks to everyone for their input and happy wheeling.
 
Well, I won't ask you to put the WJ arms back in but with two problems found on the upper control arms it's hard to pin it exclusively on the lowers. I'm glad the problem seems fixed, though!
 
rockhead said:
Did it fix the DW?
Click to expand...

Yes, no DW at any speed or road condition.

yossarian19 said:
Well, I won't ask you to put the WJ arms back in but with two problems found on the upper control arms it's hard to pin it exclusively on the lowers. I'm glad the problem seems fixed, though!
Click to expand...

I do agree. I almost settled with only replacing the lowers and leaving the uppers alone. I would have been very frustrated if after replacing the lowers I still had the DW not knowing about the upper problems. I honestly think all 3 played a part in my DW. But I am very happy with the results now and would not swap back to the WJ arms for any reason at this point. The ride is rock solid. Firm but still comfortable even on big bumps and has absolutely no wiggles, rattles, clunks or other annoying noises. After all is done the whole project was pricier than I planned but the end result is worth it.

Thanks to everyone for your advice.
 
nrwphoto said:
I am not interested in the most expensive, I am looking for the best quality I can find. Plus the JKS arms are not offset at the front bushing or curved to clear the shock mount.
Click to expand...

odd recommendation wasn't it?
 
denverd1 said:
odd recommendation wasn't it?
Click to expand...

I guess so, considering you were asking for low to mid-range.

But I'm still curious who'd buy what on the higher end so asking if the Clayton & TNT still come highly recommended.
 
rockclimber said:
After having installed several short arm lifts, changed many springs, and spent countless hours dialing in pinion angles, there is only one set of arms I will recommend.

Savvy OffRoad.

The double adjustable uppers make dialing pinion angle and setting caster much less of a headache.


Do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on your suspension.


When was the last time you changed the upper control arm bushings at the axle? They are pretty worthless and can develop slop easily
Click to expand...

they don't specifically make XJ arms. which ones work on our rigs?
 
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